A link port may be generally defined as an electrical interface connecting a first processing agent to a second processing agent. A link port allows the first processing agent to transmit data to and receive data from the second processing agent. Typically, a link port includes a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit, which may or may not share one or more common electrical elements.
The transmitter circuit and receiver circuit of a link port may consume significant DC current. For example, a transmitter circuit of a conventional link port may consume 16 to 24 milliamps in order to maintain 400 to 600 millivolts of voltage swing. Significant current is consumed whether or not the link port is active, inactive, or disabled. Much of the consumed current is attributable to leakage current of their constituent circuit elements.